Why rebuilding Rolling Fork's bear sculptures is a key step in their tornado recovery

Mary Boyte, Mississippi Clarion-Ledger
Updated ·6 min read
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Driving around Rolling Fork, you can't miss the wooden bear statues dotted throughout the town.

A new bear is added each year during the Great Delta Bear Affair, an annual festival that started in 2002 to honor the 100th anniversary of Teddy Roosevelt's bear hunt in Sharkey County.

This year, however, the bear carving tradition looks a little different.

When the devastating EF-4 tornado hit the small town of Rolling Fork in March 2023, the bears were among the damage. Some lost arms and legs, others lost faces. One was split clean in half. One was never found.

Usually, Mississippi artist Dayton Scoggins carves a new bear during the festival. This year, he carved it beforehand, so he can spend the festival driving around Rolling Fork repairing the damaged bears.

Dayton Scoggins carves a bear statue in Jackson on Oct. 12 for the 2023 Great Delta Bear Affair later that month.
Dayton Scoggins carves a bear statue in Jackson on Oct. 12 for the 2023 Great Delta Bear Affair later that month.

Scoggins carved the new bear during this year's State Arts Conference in Jackson hosted by The Mississippi Arts Commission.

Over the course of two days, Scoggins brought the bear to life outside of Thalia Mara Hall. Guests of the conference could watch Scoggins as he took a log provided by Cypress Depot and transformed it into a sculpture full of movement and life.

The log was delivered Wednesday morning, Oct. 11, and by the next afternoon, the bear was complete.

Dayton Scoggins works on a construction worker bear statue outside Thalia Mara Hall in Jackson for the 2023 Great Delta Bear Affair in Rolling Fork.
Dayton Scoggins works on a construction worker bear statue outside Thalia Mara Hall in Jackson for the 2023 Great Delta Bear Affair in Rolling Fork.

The new bear, a construction worker holding a saw in one hand and a hammer in the other, represents rebuilding.

The theme matches the overall theme of this year's festival: "Bearly there but building back." Meg Cooper, coordinator of Mississippi's Lower Delta Partnership, said this year's festival will honor those who lost their lives in the tornado.

Friday morning, Oct. 13, a crew from Yates Construction loaded up the bear and drove it 80 miles north to Rolling Fork where it waits for the Great Delta Bear Affair on Saturday, Oct. 28.

Clyde Kilpatrick, Richard Sistrunk, Ephraim Calhoun and Joseph Shumate load the new bear sculpture onto a truck on Oct. 13 in Jackson carved by Dayton Scoggins to take it to Rolling Fork in preparation for the 2023 Great Delta Bear Affair.
Clyde Kilpatrick, Richard Sistrunk, Ephraim Calhoun and Joseph Shumate load the new bear sculpture onto a truck on Oct. 13 in Jackson carved by Dayton Scoggins to take it to Rolling Fork in preparation for the 2023 Great Delta Bear Affair.

Scoggins has been carving bears for Rolling Fork for about 15 years.

"It's been a long time. Every year they have a festival and we would carve them a big bear and they'd place them all around town," Scoggins said.

The one thing the bears all have in common is a pair of glasses and a distinctive mustache. The specs and facial hair symbolize Teddy Roosevelt, who during his presidency in 1902 visited Sharkey County and refused to shoot a captured, injured bear.

The incident inspired the birth of the Teddy Bear.

Rolling Fork resident John Abney sprays weeds along the sidewalk near the carved wooden bear on the corner of Walnut and Locus Streets near the Sharkey County Courthouse Thursday, Sept. 21.
Rolling Fork resident John Abney sprays weeds along the sidewalk near the carved wooden bear on the corner of Walnut and Locus Streets near the Sharkey County Courthouse Thursday, Sept. 21.

“In the spring, they got hit with that massive tornado, and it damaged just about all of them,” Scoggins said. "Hopefully this year, instead of doing the carving at the festival, we’re going to go back and repair it as much as we can."

Building back: Chuck's Dairy Bar construction signals recovery in Rolling Fork, town decimated by tornado

There are 17 sculptures placed throughout Rolling Fork, with some lost over the years due to weather. Since 2004, the bears have been a staple of Rolling Fork culture.

“They became a great tourism attraction for us and public art. We just love the public art. You can’t miss it when you come into town,” Cooper said.

Cooper said people know Rolling Fork for the bears. After the tornado, she said people would call her and first ask her how she was. The next question would be about the bears.

“They first said, ‘Are you OK? Is your house OK?’ And then they’d say, ‘What about the bears?’” Cooper said.

The hand from a statue of President Theodore Roosevelt can be seen in front of the rest of the statue that was damaged in the tornado alongside a statue of a bear in Rolling Fork on March 29, 2023. The statue, which was damaged when an EF-4 tornado hit the town represents the story of Roosevelt sparing a bear while on a hunt nearby that inspired the creation of the Teddy Bear.

Two of the sculptures depict people, Teddy Roosevelt and Holt Collier, the president's guide during the bear hunt. Both the Collier and Roosevelt sculptures lost guns in the tornado. The Roosevelt sculpture lost a hand.

Scoggins has had to repair damaged sculptures before, but this job will be the biggest undertaking yet. He will work Wednesday, Oct. 25, through Saturday, Oct. 28, repairing the battered bears.

"What we'll do is we'll get a piece of cypress wood, kind of match the grain back as best we can, glue them back on and try to carve them back out ," Scoggins said.

The finished construction worker bear sits outside Thalia Mara Hall in Jackson waiting to be taken to Rolling Fork. Dayton Scoggins carved the statue for the 2023 Great Delta Bear Affair.
The finished construction worker bear sits outside Thalia Mara Hall in Jackson waiting to be taken to Rolling Fork. Dayton Scoggins carved the statue for the 2023 Great Delta Bear Affair.

The lost sculpture, a tree with three bear cubs climbing it, stood in front of the town’s post office. The concrete slab base remains intact. The new construction bear will sit on the slab in front of the remains of the post office, which was destroyed in the tornado. Cooper said they may relocate the bear in the future.

The Rolling Fork brochure includes a map of all the bears and information about the buildings they decorate. Cooper said the town is waiting to see how many bears and buildings they can repair before reprinting the brochures.

The festival will have its normal activities including live music, arts and crafts, food and kid's activities. They will also have an archeologist giving tours of some of the nearby Native American mounds which are part of the Mississippi Mound Trail.

Happening again this year is the burger eating contest hosted by Chuck’s Dairy Bar. During the tornado, employees of Chuck’s Dairy Bar took refugee in the restaurant’s cooler. Even though the restaurant has not yet been rebuilt, the burger bar will provide burgers for the contest, grilled on-site.

Cooper said even though Rolling Fork has a population of fewer than 2,000, the “small-town festival” usually garners about 4,000-6,000 visitors.

Dayton Scoggin's signature on the bear statue he carved for the 2023 Great Delta Bear Affair in Rolling Fork.
Dayton Scoggin's signature on the bear statue he carved for the 2023 Great Delta Bear Affair in Rolling Fork.

Despite the normal festivities, the Great Delta Bear Affair will look a little different this year. One difference is there won’t be any fireworks to end the week, since the organizers don’t want the festival to go until dark this year, Cooper said.

Cooper said the streets remain relatively undamaged, which is good since most of the festival’s activities take place on the street.

“The streets are there, they’re OK. The buildings are gone. We won’t have shade where we would normally have some shade and some trees and all,” Cooper said.

More on tornadoes: Lessons learned: Rolling Fork, other cities begin to rebuild. How other cities did it

Other usual activities will look a little different. The festival normally includes a youth education clinic to teach kids about environmental conservation and bears. The clinic usually takes place on the Theodore Roosevelt Refuge Visitor Center lawn, a space currently occupied by the town's temporary courthouse. The education clinic will take place inside the building.

The finished construction worker bear looking out over Jackson outside Thalia Mara Hall before being taken to Rolling Fork. Dayton Scoggins carved the statue for the 2023 Great Delta Bear Affair.
The finished construction worker bear looking out over Jackson outside Thalia Mara Hall before being taken to Rolling Fork. Dayton Scoggins carved the statue for the 2023 Great Delta Bear Affair.

Attendees can visit the new construction bear and enjoy activities and food at the Great Delta Bear Affair from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 28 in Rolling Fork.

If you go

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Great MS Delta Bear Affair adds bear statue after Rolling Fork MS tornado